Resiliently mounted drop bottom mine car



Sept. 20, 1949.

H. H. PANCAKE RESILIENTLY MOUNTED DROP BOTTOM MINE CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 17, 1944 INVENTOR Her/g5): H Pancake ATTQRNEY Sept. 20, 1949. H. H. PANCAKE RESILIEIQLY MOUNTED DROP BOTTOM NINE CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1'7, 1944 e w 4 m n R c Y "4 .1 mm M T m T w n 3 H/A Y Ma a 6 up 2 1 0 m 0 W a 2 v/v/ /0 Zr J lllll W W 4 w W a u a? u 4 u .Ei L G a L? w..,,,. o,.." m 3 a i u a "M 2 6 n I n u I n iatentecl Sept. 20, 1949 er-Ares PATENT sonnet iRESIDIENflI-JYZ MGUNTEDIDRGRBOTEBQM HermanjI'LfPancake,Huntington, W. Vaqassignor to American Qar zan'd Foundry Company, 3 New-Work, N. We, a corporation of New "Jersey Application; February 17, 1;$l44;,;S eri-alP10522530 invention relates to mine. or industrialc'ars in generaland inparticlilar 'to.mine cars oi the 9p: bottomIty-pe.

'The l tre'nd in recent years has been toward 'Ilarger cars due tolthelong dis'tancenecessary to "119.111 coaljiromithe working face' to'the processing plants. With'thelonger hauls involving higher speed and. greater iloads'it .is 'becon'iing necessary to-re's'ilientlymountthe .cars in order to prevent -damage to'the ears .andtrack. With droplbot'tom carsithe' body can notibe resiliently mounted on the axles 'inthe same manner .a's'can an, ordinary typeof mine car for to do sowould materially re- Stiictthe capacity of the oar .and retard the discharge of material through the. opened doors. 'It is an object, there'fore, ofthelpresentinvention to provide a resiliently mounted drop'bottomm'ine car in which the resilient means-is so. arranged "that it will not retardthe disoharge of "lading "irom'fthe car.

.A further object .6f "the invention isfthe provision (if a drop bottom mine'car havingthe parts so arranged asto carry the entire load at thepar- "titi'on'sj'and on' resilient means located within the "lower'e'dg'e .of' the partition.

.A'still further objector fthe'inventi'on isthe provision of 'adrop .bottom'mine i'car in which jftheaxlesymay'move relative'to the car. and on fiwhi c'hthecar is supportedbyimeans of transversely extending rows of' springs,

Theseand other'obj'ectsof'the invention 'willbe "apparenttopersonsskilled in the .art' from'a'study ofthe following description and accompanying "drawings, in 'whih Fig. 1"is' a'longitudinal"sectional View Of: siibstantially one-half of the car;

Fig. 2 is-a side view -of substantial1y" the other half of the car;

Fig; 3 is -'a transvers e- 'sectional view tatkenslib- Fig. 4 is-a sectional 'view taken'substantially' on -'=Referring now "to the drawings in detail, -"it -will be seen that 'the' car'is provided with bumpers either rigidly-or movably mounted in-end sill receive the upper "edges of "wheels NV and the openings are covered by small '-*wheel hoo'ds i2. -Thets1opin'gffloor:portion is inclined at such an (crops- 3 4) lading throughthe space between the 'carfsiiie sills and 'in'the present'form ismade continuous with the vertically extending side wallsxl l. The vertically .extendin side walls are reinforced lagainst de'formationby a top roll [6 and inter- -mediate .angle shaped brace [28 which "has its .edgeswelded to the side plate. Itis obvious that ',the.slope sheet orsldefloor and vertically extend- .ing .side walls .may ;be formed separately and 10 joinedtogether at their lower and .outer edges,

.but in the presentcase they are shown as made in -one .piece reinforcedua'dj acent-the ,point of junclturelby :angleshaped belt rail Zllfhaving' its edges =we'lded or otherwise attachedto the slopingffloor l5 ;po rtion. .Thusit will beseen that .theside wall .is reinforced adjacentlits upper, lower .andzin'termediate. portions by hollow .elements of substantially triangular cross-section, thus produing great rigidity with minimum weight. .Thesloping side. walls v or fioors and. vertically I extending .side

.walls .are jo inedtogetherat their ends by. means 'aOfend .wallslz internally braced by .the top 1011 WIB Hand: externally by the buttressin members 24 extending between tthe endwall and endsill struc- 5 ture. ='Since the car as shown is intended 'for -machineloading, one-end, as shown in Fig. 2, .is eofr-adesserheight. Droopingof the side .fioor por- -.tionsintermediate rthe axles and intermediate. the end sills andlaxles is prevented by means of under 0 floor-;gussets;-2-6 connected to the side sills, vside .-fioor portions/and belt rail 20.

The space between the side .sills is adapted. to "he lolosed by a forward door 28, .an intermediate door and rear door 32 'hingedly carried byrods 3llzsupported byzthe side sills. Thedoors 28 and .3D;are.1held i-n-.raised position by extensions 36 rimmedrespectively won vdoors 30 and 32, while d001732 i-S:h81d i1'1PaiSGd'DOSifiOI'l by a hook-struc- .turelHmarried adjacentthe rear end w-allxofthe 4 Year -as. clearly shown in Fi 2.

'Dropbottom.-mine cars :as customarily built nelye-on :the'side .si'llsto carry the loads from the doors and side floors directly to the axles. This, .however, :reguires exceptionally heavy-sills and it 5 rziS difiioultto obtainsufiicient strength in theaxle .-.zo ne. "With thecaras shown the cross partitions :are made, of xcomparatively heavy plate 40; rein- ;.-for'.ced at its'upper edge by angle member=42 and ':at its flower edge: by angle member 44.. The plate ise-additionallystiffened-againstdeflection by veratica llyimextendingi :braces i416 welded or otherwise 'msecuredlto theiplate and to:the angle f'ormitopaand bottom :braces. .As -clearly shown, the angle 'brac'e W2 hasits :edges welded :or iotherwise.;se-

"a nl'e as permit "complete discharge the' "-omed directly to the' plate, .-whil'e ;angle@bracet44 is welded to the plate adjacent the point of juncture of the angle legs. The legs of angle 44 are directed outwardly and downwardly with respect to plate 40 and have their edges welded or otherwise secured to the top of an axle housing of generally inverted channel cross-section to thereby form a hollow triangular reinforcing. member. The shallow axle housing, as most clearly shown in Fig. 4, is formed with a substantially horizontal top wall or web and side walls or flanges 52. The rear side wall is inclined rearwardly as at 54, then downwardly as at 56 to a point closely adjacent the door. The forward side wall or flange is directed downwardly and forwardly as at 58 in order to approach the adjacent free edge of the next forward door, thereby protecting the joints between the doors. The web 50 has openings formed therein through which project guide or stop members 60 securely welded in position as shown in Fig. 3. These stop members 60 are adapted to hold in place the upper ends of short springs 62, the lower ends of which rest upon an inverted channel shape pressing 64. The relatively short springs are held in position on channel shape pressing 66 by upwardly extending lugs or stop members 66. Inverted channel shaped member 64 rests upon and is supported by a square axle 68 extending through openings in the side sills and through sill reinforcing members 10. The outer ends of axles 58 are supported in wheels W. As clearly seen in the figures, the axle 5B is guided for vertical motion relative to the side sills by means of the vertically elongated slots 69 formed in the side sills and in sill reinforcing member 1!]. Rotation of the axle is prevented due to its square form and close engagement with the elongated slots in the sills and reinforcements.

Lateral shifting of the car on the springs will be prevented by engagement between the wheel hubs and sill reinforcements, while displacement of channel member 64 on axle 68 will be prevented by engagement between channel 54 and the inner face of the side sills. From the preceding it will be seen that an exceedingly strong cross brace or partition has been formed of great depth and stiffness. The shallow axle and spring housing of generally inverted channel shape forms the bottom edge of the partition and is braced against deformation by means of the main partition plate 49 and stifiening members 42, i4 and 46. This exceedingly strong and rigid partition has its ends conforming to the contour of the car and these edges will be securely welded or otherwise attached to the car, that is, angles 42 and plates 40 will be rigidly attached to the side walls, sloping side floors and wheel hoods, while angle members 44 and the axle housings will be directly welded or otherwise secured to the inner wall of the wheel hood to the lower portion of the sloping side floors and to the side sill elements. With the partitions constructed and arranged as described, there is no possibility for the side walls or side floors to deform and the weight of the lading will be transferred from the doors to the sloping side floors and thence through these floors to the partitions arranged in the vertical plane of the axles. The weight of the lading resting on the side wing portions will be held by these portions which will transfer the strain directly to the partitions. Thus it will be seen that the entire side walls will act as girders, transferring the strains to the partitions and through the partitions to the transversely extending row of resilient means or springs 62. These springs will in turn transmit the load directly to and evenly distribute it onto the axle supported by the wheels. The arrangement of the springs as shown will permit vertical movement of the body relative to the axles, as well as transverse rocking movement, with the movements limited by the stops 60 and 66, as well as by the sill reinforcements 10. It is preferable that the spacing between the axle and the sill reinforcements be less than the spacing between stops 69 and 66 in order that shook loads may be transferred more directly to the wheels.

Although the invention has been described more or less in detail, it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of parts other than those shown and described will suggest themselves and all such modifications and rearrangements of parts are contemplated as come within the scope of the following claims defining my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a drop bottom mine or similar rail car the combination of side sills, lading retaining walls secured to the side sills, lading retaining doors pivotally carried by the side sills and together with said walls and sills forming the car body, transversely extending partitions connected to the side sills and lading retaining walls, axles extending through vertically elongated slots in the side sills and located in the plane of the partitions, spaced wheels supporting the axles, and transversely extending rows of coil springs resting on the axles between the side sills with their tops below the plane through the tops of the wheels and supporting the partitions and connected car body on the axles.

2. In a mine or similar rail car the combination of a lading retaining body, brace means connected to andv extending transversely of the car body for substantially preventing distortion thereof, a pluralit of axles each supported by two wheels, and more than two transversely spaced resilient means resting on each axle between the wheels and supporting said brace means and connected car body on the axles at more than two points.

3. In a mine or similar rail car the combination of a lading retaining body, brace means connected to and extending transversely of the car body for substantially preventing distortion thereof,,a plurality of axles each supported by two wheels and a plurality of resilient means resting on each axle between the wheels and supporting said brace means and connected car body on the axles, said resilient means comprising seven coil springs located in the vertical plane of the axles and distributing the weight of the car evenly along the axle between the wheels.

4. Ina drop bottom mine or similar rail car the combination of side sills, lading retaining walls secured to the side sills, lading retaining doors pivotally carried by the side sills and togetherwith said walls and sills forming the car body, square axles extending through vertically elongated slots in the side sills, wheels located outside of the sills and supporting the ends of the axles, axle housings extending transversely of the car above the axles and being connected to the side sills, and a plurality of coil springs located within each housing adjacent the longi tudinal center thereof and supporting each housing on the adjacent axle.

5. In a drop bottom mine or similar rail car the combination of side sills, lading retaining walls secured to the side sills, lading retaining doors pivotally carried by the side sills and together with said walls and sills forming the car body, square axles extending through vertically elongated slots in the side sills, wheels located outside of the sills and supporting the ends of the axles, axle housings extending transversely of the car above the axles and being connected to the side sills, and seven coil springs located within and supporting each housing on the adjacent axle, said springs being substantially equally spaced along the length of said axle housings and distributing the weight of the car evenly along the axle between the wheels.

6. In a drop bottom mine or similar rail car the combination of side sills, lading retaining Walls secured to the side sills, lading retaining doors pivotally carried by the side sills and. together with said walls and sills forming the car body, axles extending through vertically elongated slots in the side sills, wheels located outside of the sills and supporting the ends of the axles, axle housings extending transversely of the car abovethe axles and being connected to the side sills, a plurality of coil springs located within and substantially equally spaced along the length of each housing and evenly supporting each housing substantially throughout its length on the adjacent axle, and bracing means secured to the axle housings and walls to transfer the weight of the car and lading to said axle housings.

7. In a drop bottom mine or similar rail car the combination of sid sills, lading retaining walls secured to the side sills, lading retaining doors pivotally carried by the side sills and together with said walls and sills forming the car body, axles extending through vertically elongated slots in the side sills, wheels located outside of the sills and supporting the ends of the axles, axle housings extending transversely of the car above the axles and being connected to the side sills, at least three coil springs located within and substantially equally spaced along the length of each housing and supporting each housing on the adjacent axle, and bracing means secured to the axle housings and walls to transfer the weight of the car and lading to said axle housings, said bracing means comprising a metal plate braced by angle members welded thereto adjacent the upper and lower edges thereof with one of said angle members welded to said axle housings, said coil springs and bracing means being located between vertical planes through the opposite edges of the axles.

8. As an article of manufacture a combined mine car support and cross brace comprising an axle housing of inverted channel cross-section adapted throughout its length to receive resilient means supporting the housing on an axle, and reinforcing means located above and connected to the upper portions of the axle housing and adapted to be secured to the car body.

9. As an article of manufacture a combined mine car support and cross brace comprising an axle housing of inverted channel cross-section adapted to receive resilient means supporting the housing on an axle, an angle located above the web of the channel shape axle housing and having the legs thereof secured to the axle housing and forming with the web thereof a hollowreinforcement of triangular cross-section reinforcing the axle housing, and a metal plate secured to the angle adjacent the point of juncture of the legs and coacting therewith to additionally reinforce the axle housing.

HERMAN H. PANCAKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Sensenich June 23, 1942 

